The Academy - Forgiveness and Permission (Year One, Book Four) (12 page)

“When you go home today, you can ask her about it,” he said.

“They’re going to find out,” I said. “Hendricks has already threatened to call my parents. McCoy might know already. At some point he might ...”

“Stop,” Mr. Blackbourne barked at me. “You’re worrying. It’s a waste of time.”

My cheeks heated. I swallowed, shoving a finger toward my mouth. “What do we do?”

His face softened. He drew the chair closer to the desk, sitting, gazing up at my face. Looking down at him, he appeared the younger version of Mr. Blackbourne I sometimes forgot he was. He couldn’t be more than nineteen, twenty maybe. The perfect angles of his face seemed to soften, and his gray eyes opened up. “You, Miss Sorenson, are going to stop worrying about things you can’t control. What Hendricks might do isn’t something you should be concerned about.”

“If he finds out ...”

He tilted his head at me. “Do you remember being locked in the closet and Kota told Gabriel to pick you up and walk you out before you convinced them you should stay?”

He was talking about this now? “Yes.”

“And you stopped us.”

“Because she was going to call the cops. She would have if I opened the door or spotted Gabriel.”

The corner of his mouth lifted. “Did you think we didn’t know that part?”

I hesitated, my finger pinching my lip to my teeth. “I ... I don’t know.”

“We were ready for it,” he said. “Like we’re ready now if someone discovers what happened with your family. If Hendricks, or anyone else, starts to cause problems, we’re ready.”

“How?” I asked. It was the puzzle that evaded conclusion when I went to bed at night. Even with the boys next to me, I listened to police sirens in the distance and wondered if they were on their way to my door. This couldn't last forever. Someone would find out. “What would happen?”

Mr. Blackbourne sighed, sitting back and pressing his fingers to his forehead. “Maybe Kota didn’t make this clear. Your only job is to keep your nose clean. If something happens, whether your mom returns and kicks you out of the house, or your classmates threaten you, or Mr. McCoy comes after you again, all you have to do is call. One of a dozen scenarios could happen, true, but as long as you remain safe and keep out of trouble, we can help.” His steel gaze glinted at me. “And I swear, Miss Sorenson, we will. We will come for you every time, for any reason. Until the day you tell us to stop, we will always be right behind you.”

My breath stilled as I regarded him. “I can tell you to stop?”

He nodded. “Family is a choice,” he reminded me.

I sighed. Could it only be so simple? They said I had to trust them. I tried. I wanted to. My mind wouldn’t relent wondering what I should do if this or that happened. My life was out of control, and the thin thread that kept me from crumbling was the Academy—the new family that I didn’t yet feel fully a part of.

“What do I do now?” I asked.

He sat forward again. “You are going to wait here until school is over. Kota will collect you after class. When you go home today, find out why your sister is staying out of school. Get her to come back if you can.”

“What if she doesn’t want to?"

“She can either come willingly, or the police will eventually look for her. Social services will inspect the house if she abuses your new independence,” he said. “You might want to remind her of that.”

“I should try to make her?”

He shook his head. “Remind her that she can’t expect to hide forever. The longer she stays away, the harder it will be to go back. If she continues to refuse to come to school, if she fights it, back off. She’s making her own choices. As long as she doesn’t impede upon your wellbeing, let her do what she thinks she has to do.”

I twisted my lips. I felt partially responsible for Marie. Family was supposed to help each other, weren’t they?

Mr. Blackbourne seemed to read my mind. “Family is a choice. We help those who want our help. Don’t make yourself responsible for someone who won’t do the same for you. Blood can make a bond stronger, but it doesn’t make the bond.”

I relented. I wasn’t sure how I could do that, but maybe he was right. It still seemed impossible to let go of every worry. Nothing I could do about it now. “What about Mr. Hendricks?”

“You should probably do what he says,” Mr. Blackbourne offered. His eyes met mine again, the millimeter smile collecting in the corner of his mouth. “Keep your eyes open. Stay close.”

“He said stay close to you.”

He nodded, as if it were obvious. “And you should.”

I blushed, but pushed my hand from my face and into my lap. Words escaped me. They were already so close. They invaded nearly every part of my life now. So close and yet I wasn’t really part of them. I didn’t feel it. I felt I hardly knew any of them.

Would I ever feel like I knew them fully?

––––––––

I
could have gone to gym class, but Mr. Blackbourne allowed me to sit it out. He left to take care of other things, but had me lock the door behind him.

I was still sitting on the desk when the door handle rattled. I stilled, my heart in my throat, worried it might be another teacher or even Mr. McCoy. The door unlocked and Dr. Green walked in. He was wearing a dark blue shirt, a yellow tie, and tan slacks. His sandy-colored hair hung down about mid ear. There was a soft scrap of facial hair along his jaw, as if he left it unshaven on purpose. It looked incredible. 

He stopped mid-step when he spotted me. His lips parted and he smiled. "There's my little pumpkin. You skipped my class."

"Sorry," I said. "Mr. Hendricks called me down." I felt weird sitting on his desk so I started to slide off.

"Don't get up," he said. He closed the door behind himself.  "I just need to get ready to go to work."

My eyebrows lifted. "Work?"

"Can't play all day," he said. "The hospital needs me."

"You go straight from here to the hospital?"

"Unless you want me to stop somewhere else on the way," he said. "Why? Did you want to go somewhere?"

"I ... uh," I didn't know how to respond. I suspected he was trying to tease me in a friendly way.

He beamed at me. "When you think of something, tell me." He turn toward his desk, opening one of the lower drawers. He yanked off his yellow tie, dropping it into the open drawer and started unbuttoning his shirt.

"Oh, uh," I said, and glanced at the wall. "Did you need me to go?"

He touched the top of my knee.  "Stay put. I'm just tired of this shirt. It smells like that classroom. Which is to say, it's like kid sweat and chalk dust." He slipped the blue shirt off of his shoulders, revealing the white cotton T-shirt underneath. He unstuffed the lower hem out of the inside of the pants to let it hang down. I caught the thin line of blue boxers starting at his hips before the hem covered them and they disappeared.

I bit my lip. Dr. Green's arms flexed as he moved, collecting his shirt and folded it to place in the drawer. As he bent forward, the lean muscles of his shoulders and chest flexed in a flattering way in the thin white shirt.

When he finished, he sat down in his chair, rolling up until he could sit back and put his feet on the desk. His calf touched my thigh as he did. He rolled his shoulders back, his head leaning against the head rest of his chair. "Ugh." He sighed heavily. "Remind me not to become a teacher."

"You're a doctor," I said.

"That's right. I am a doctor. I will continue to be a doctor. I will do doctor things." He pointed a lazy finger toward the wall. "But those monsters out there spend all day locked in their cell phones like they think I can't tell what their up to, and become indignant when I ask them to pay attention. Not to mention all the things they do to each other. I think you and Victor are the only ones that acknowledge I'm even up there sometimes. I am so glad I skipped high school."

His admission stunned me. "You skipped it?"

"I've been in the Academy since forever," he said.

Oh yeah. I should have figured. "But that's still a school. It's not like that?"

Dr. Green laughed, rich and vibrant. "Just you wait. One of these days, you'll be out of here, and you'll wonder why these little hellions are so absorbed in what that girl is wearing or what he was doing last night on Facebook." He sat forward cupping a hand over my knee. "I may dump the whole class. Except you and Victor. " His light eyes caught mine. "Maybe even Victor."

My lips parted. Words failed to form. I knew from the others that he was a flirt. It was simply hard to tell if he was at all serious or if he was joking.

He winked at me. He glanced at the clock on the wall and groaned. "Never enough time." He released me, picking up a messenger bag. He stood up, slinging the bag's strap over his shoulder. He parted his arms. "Hug?"

My cheeks heated, but I started to open up, scooting close to the edge. He nudged me to stand before wrapping his arms around my shoulders. I pressed my hands to his back. Since he was wearing the thin white shirt, I felt the muscles at his chest and back. My heart thundered. A tingling sensation swept through me. I didn't know him as well as the others, so part of it was that this was a new sensation. Part of it was that despite the lack of him being around sometimes, I wanted to get to know him more. There was simply something about his countenance that made me feel more comfortable around him than I thought I should be.

He sighed against my hair. "Be good. Listen to the boys. Try not to get them into any trouble."

I scoffed. "I don't do that."

"Sure," he said, in a tone like he didn't believe me. He released me and patted his palm to my cheek, with that easy going smile on his face. "If I stay here another minute, I'll probably get into trouble."

"What do you—"

"Bye!" He waved shortly and headed to the door, leaving me to wonder what he meant.

♥♥♥

T
rue to Mr. Blackbourne’s promise, Kota came for me after class.

We walked out together to the parking lot and his car. Nathan stood by the car with Luke in tow. I shouldn’t be surprised by any of them following us home. Sometimes they did it just to hang out. Today, Luke was coming along because North and Silas had practice tonight. Plus, Luke wanted to spend the night with me.

“Shotgun,” Nathan said when we were within hearing distance.

“Ha,” Luke said. “That means I get the back with Sang.”

Nathan’s mouth dropped opened. “Shit.”

“Hey,” Kota said, smirking. “What’s wrong with sitting up front with me?”

“Sang’s prettier.”

I hid myself behind Kota to mask my blushing.

Luke opened the door for me this time. I dropped my things on to the floor, throwing my sandals off next to them. When Luke got in, I slumped over, putting my head in his lap.

“What’s wrong?” Luke asked, his fingers brushed through the locks of hair around my face.

His fingers were just what I needed. I sighed, seeking out the comfort in his touch. “Hendricks is mean. My sister’s been skipping school since last week. Now I have to try to convince her she should go to school.”

Luke’s dark brown eyes softened. The blond locks were pulled back with a clip he’d stolen from me. “I know how you feel. I’ve got a chemistry test tomorrow.”

A grin broke over my face at his attempt to be funny.

“Get your seatbelt on, Sang,” Kota said as he started the car.

“She’s fine where she is,” Luke said.

“It isn’t safe.”

“You’re a good driver,” Luke said.

“It’s not my driving I’m worried about.” Kota readjusted his rearview mirror, using it to glance back at me. “Sang?”

I sucked in a breath, sitting up, groaning. I curled up in the seat, pushing my knees to my chest, but stuffed my seatbelt on.

Kota tilted his mirror back, satisfied. Kota the boss.

Luke reached for my hand, holding it in his as Kota drove toward Sunnyvale Court. “What are we going to do tonight? I’ve only got a couple nights left before the diner opens.”

This drew my attention from the window to him. “You mean it’s finished?”

“They did a couple of dry runs today. Saturday they’ll do a soft open for the weekend. Friends and family only. After that, it’s officially open.”

“It just seems so fast. It feels like I was knocking out counters yesterday.”

Luke laughed. “You only knocked out one.”

I twisted toward him. “What happens now? Will you work there? Will North? Can I go see it?”

“We’ve got work to do,” Kota reminded us. “We’ve got to confront your sister, and you’ve got homework.”

Luke beamed. “Yeah, and you’ll see it this weekend. And yes, I’ll work there and North will, too.”

“That means you’ll be around a lot more,” I said, glad to hear about it. I liked the thought of being able to walk and see them when I wanted.

“We’ll all be working there,” Kota said.

“All of you?” I asked.

“Everyone except Victor,” Luke said. “And Mr. Blackbourne and the doc. Gabriel probably not as much, but only because he’s got to travel so far. Probably just on the weekends.”

“Victor won’t work?” I understood about Mr. Blackbourne and Dr. Green. I was sure they were very busy and didn’t need a job.

“Victor doesn’t need a paycheck,” Kota said.

I knew Victor’s parents had money, but just because he didn’t need a paycheck didn’t mean he couldn’t work. It didn’t matter to me I guess but I did entertain the idea of all of us working there. Then I remembered Silas saying he had to be careful about his image outside of school. Maybe that was it.

When we got to our street this time, Kota parked his car at my house. Again I felt out of place, with Kota directing our movements. Nathan and Luke didn’t appear at all surprised by this and didn’t question him. I tried to understand this. It was like they relinquished their plans to his direction. If we had parked at Nathan’s house instead, would they have felt any differently?

But no, we had a job to do. It was time to confront my sister.

I had the guys wait downstairs. I wasn’t even sure if she was home. They sought out snacks in the kitchen. Kota put his things down and ran back outside to go check the mail for me.